ACC.16: More than 2,400 abstracts, 24 late-breaking trials and plenty more

The American College of Cardiology’s 65^th annual scientific session takes place from April 2 to 4 in Chicago.

Of the 5,144 abstracts submitted for consideration, a committee accepted 2,403 for oral presentations and poster sessions. The committee also selected 24 late-breaking clinical trials over five sessions. Several of the late-breaking studies will be simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA.

Here is a schedule of the late-breaking trials.

Athena Poppas, MD, the ACC annual scientific session chair and director of Cardiovascular Imaging at the Cardiovascular Institute in Providence, Rhode Island, cited a few of the late-breaking trials in a conference call with reporters on March 15.

She mentioned the HOPE-3 trial, which will be presented at 9:27 a.m. on April 2 by lead researcher Eva M. Lonn, MD, and will be simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The HOPE-3 trial evaluated whether rosuvastatin and candesartan/hydrochlorothiazide used alone or in combination could reduce the risk of MI, stroke and their sequelae in people without known heart disease or prior stroke. The study’s researchers randomized more than 12,705 adults from 21 countries and monitored them for a mean of 5.7 years. Nearly half of the population is women, and more than half are of non-European descent, according to Poppas.

“This is a population that really had not been studied well before in such a large and long-term study,” Poppas said. “This is somewhat similar to the SPRINT trial, which looked at different interventions, but it’s a larger trial with longer-term follow-up…This is very novel, very impactful and may change the way we do business.”

Poppas also mentioned a study that evaluated the use of antiarrhythmic drugs (amiodarone and lidocaine) to improve survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Lead researcher Peter J. Kudenchuk, MD, will present the results on April 4 at 8:00 a.m. The findings will be simultaneously published online in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers randomized 3,000 adults from North America to receive up to 450 mg amiodarone, 180 mg lidocaine, or placebo. The primary outcome was survival to hospital discharge.

“This should be very important, very timely and something we don’t get to see often, which is out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and looking at different algorithms of medical interventions compared to a placebo,” Poppas said.

In addition, Poppas discussed a late-breaking, INOVATE-HF trial that examined the effect of vagal nerve stimulation in patients with heart failure. Lead researcher Michael Robert Gold, MD, will present the results at 11:30 a.m. on April 4. The study evaluated the CardioFit System (BioControl Medical), which is not yet FDA-approved.

Further, she cited another late-breaking trial called IMPEDANCE-HF that examined non-invasive monitoring of lung impedance as a guide to reduce hospitalization in heart failure patients. Lead researcher Michael Shochat, MD, will present the results on April 4 at 11:45 a.m.

Jeffrey Kuvin, MD, the ACC annual scientific session vice chair and associate chief of cardiology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, mentioned a few more of the late-breaking trials, including four trials that will be presented on the morning of April 3 and simultaneously published in JAMA.

Kuvin mentioned a phase 3, randomized study that evaluated the use of evacetrapib in patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease; the GAUSS-3 trial that compared evolocumab with ezetimibe in statin-intolerant patients; a study that examined the efficacy of mobile health lifestyle programs that target physical inactivity and obesity; and a study that examined the implications of over-testing in patients who present to the emergency department with low-risk chest discomfort.

In addition, Kuvin mentioned a randomized study that compared transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with surgery in intermediate risk patients with aortic stenosis. Lead researcher Martin B. Leon, MD, will present the results at 9:05 a.m. on April 2. The findings will be simultaneously published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

On April 3 at 11:30 a.m., lead researcher Vinod H. Thourani, MD, will present one-year outcomes of a study that compared the Sapien 3 TAVR system with surgery in intermediate-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis.

The conference also features several live cases and keynote lectures given by prominent cardiologists and healthcare leaders.

Robert M. Califf, MD, whom the Senate confirmed as FDA commissioner in February, will deliver a speech titled “Evidence and the Practice of Cardiovascular Medicine” on April 4. Califf was a cardiologist and founder of the Duke Clinical Research Institute before joining the FDA last year.

David B. Nash, MD, MBA, dean of the Jefferson College of Population Health in Philadelphia, will discuss “Population Health: Is it the Secret Sauce?” in a lecture on April 2.

“We’re looking very much forward to his presentation to try to guide us into our next few decades of how we can actually impact populations in a better manner, reducing risk factors,” ACC president Kim Allan Williams Sr., MD, the chief of cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said in a conference call with reporters on March 15.

In addition, there will be four “Intensive” sessions, each lasting more than five hours. The topics are lifestyle medicine, women’s cardiovascular health, professional development and precision medicine.